About 10 years ago the show Hoarders premiered. This show really brought the concept of hoarding out to the surface. This condition now had a name and a face; and with that we were starting to realize that these stories are not far fetched and out of reach — but rather within our own families and networks. A few weeks ago, a friend shared with me that her grandmother is a hoarder. At least she suspected as much. Upon going to help move her grandmother into a better living situation, she was able to see up close just how bad the situation was. She was really upset. Upset at the situation. Upset that her grandmother almost seemed to want to stay in that awful situation; and was truly at her wits end. I recall her saying to me, “but I am just trying to help her live better; why does she want to continue to live like this?” I thought, “yeah who would want to like that when they had the option for something so much better.” Just as my own judgmental thought set in, I heard God say to me, “but I offer to do the same thing daily and how many people would rather stay in their mess?” Wow, God. You’re right. We are hoarders. We are sinners offered your grace and new beginnings; the help of God to get us out of our mess, but we don’t want to pack up our old dirty, filthy lives and follow Him. Like the grandma, this move costs us nothing. God is doing the heavy lifting. We just have to be ready to toss the old, pack up the good (pick up our cross), and be open to his amazing provision (follow Him). Like the grandma who didn’t want to see the new home prepared for her, we don’t want to see the vision of the new life God has for us. God has paid a price for us – far beyond movers, trucks, and labor. Will we simply accept his help move into his provision for a better life or will we cling to our mess?
God Applied 